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Bangladeshi workers lose savings to fake OpenAI cryptocurrency job platform scam on Telegram

Aug 29, 2024Bangladesh1 source

Summary

A Bangladeshi worker was scammed after investing cryptocurrency into a fake job platform called "OpenAi-etc," which impersonated OpenAI and recruited users through Telegram. The worker, along with others, was encouraged to invest more money and recruit additional participants, with the total investment in their team reaching around $50,000. On August 29, 2024, the website and all funds disappeared, leaving victims with no access to their money. The scam affected at least 11 Bangladeshi individuals, with one complaint alleging over 6,000 people in Bangladesh were impacted. The fake OpenAi-etc website was hosted by a China-based web hosting company, and the scam used legitimate-looking business registrations to appear credible. OpenAI is investigating the matter, but the scammers could not be contacted for comment.

Incident Details

Domain
Fraud & Financial
Harm Types
AI-Powered Financial Fraud
Mechanism
conduct
Severity
Minor involved
Platforms
TelegramChatGPT
Companies
OpenAITelegram FZ-LLC
Recipient
GroupInternational workers, primarily from Bangladesh, who were recruited through a Telegram-based job scam under the guise of working for 'OpenAI'
Dimensions
economic

Who Was Affected

Age
mixed

Sources

1
‘OpenAI’ Job Scam Targeted International Workers Through Telegram - WIRED
Google News Historical Backfill·Feb 25, 2025

This incident is documented by a single source. Source count reflects coverage in our monitored feeds, not the totality of reporting, and we do not evaluate publication quality.